Cause and Effect

Why is the sky blue? Why does it rain? Why do good people die?

We often try to understand and explain "why" things happen. Doing so requires identifying an "effect" (e.g. "Rain") and connecting it with a cause to explain why. (e.g. "Bad Korean music.")

"Many people are homeless because their homes have flooded."

effectconnectorcause
Now look at that simple sentence again. Notice it is NOT a simple sentence ... it is a complex sentence because it has two clauses.
The first clause is independent. The second is dependent because it starts with a subordinator ("because").

So, being skilled writers and brilliant students, you know that you can change the order of the clauses. You can write CAUSE + EFFECT or EFFECT + CAUSE for this type of sentence. As we will learn, not all cause/effect sentences follow this pattern of clause + clause. Read on, young bravehearts!

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Nyan notes:

Obey the cat.

READ CHAPTER SIX! You will not need to write a cause/effect essay. On the final, you will need to be prepared to answer general questions about how to write cause/effect essays. AND you will probably be required to write some intelligent cause/effect sentences.

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Causal Connectors

You can write a clause or a noun phrase for your cause or effect. Which one you use depends on which connector you use.

Now review the handy, helpful summary sheet of the causal connectors which I've prepared for you below (Table 1). You might consider memorizing some of your favorite combinations.

Look at "because." The effect comes first, followed by the cause. Notice both the cause and effect are "clauses." Just like our example above about the flood. (Both the cause and effect parts have a subject and verb.)

Now what if we change "because" to "because of?" Well, we keep the CAUSE + EFFECT order. But the cause needs to be a NOUN PHRASE. Oy. How do we do that? Simply:

"

Many people are homelessbecause offlooding in their homes

."

We changed it so the cause part is not a clause. Not a sentence. Just a phrase.

Practice these doing the exercises in the book and the practices at below Table 1. I've included answers.


Table 1: Cause and Effect connectors

cause	verb	effect
noun phrase	cause bring about lead to result in	noun phrase.
	cause	noun + to (infinitive).
	make	noun + infinitive.

cause	connector	effect
clause	, so	clause.
	; thus,
	; therefore,
	; consequently,
	; as a result,
	; for this reason,
	; because of this,

cause	marker	effect
sentence.	Thus,	clause.
	Therefore,
	Consequently,
	As a result,
	For this reason,
	Because of this,

connector	cause	effect
Because of Due to Owing to	noun phrase,	clause.

effect	verb	cause
noun phrase	BE + due to	noun phrase.
	BE + the result of
	BE + brought about by
	BE + caused by
	result from
	come from

effect	connector	cause
clause	because of	noun phrase.
	due to
	owing to

effect	connector	cause
clause	because	clause.
	as
	since

Practice

A noun phrase has no verb that indicates tense. These are noun phrases:

• the rising crime rate in American cities
• unemployment in urban areas

1. Change each noun phrase into a clause. Use present continuous for the first phrase and present simple tense for the second.

Answer:
- The crime rate is rising in American cities.
- There is unemployment in urban areas

2. Combine or link the cause and effect using one expression from each box.

A clause must have a subject and a verb. These are clauses:

• The marketing campaign is failing.
• There has been an increase in censorship.

How can you change each clause into a noun phrase?

Answer:
- the failing marketing campaign.
- increasing censorship